It’s no secret the past year has been rough. And yet, through it all, we’ve found lots of ways connect, grow, and learn… with a healthy dose of laughter in the mix. That laughter, in turns out, does a great job of helping us build resilience.
Lest you think a group of nutrition educators doesn’t have funny mishaps with food, we wanted to give you an example of how humor has helped us connect and learn together. Here’s a glimpse into a conversation that happened in one of our Slack channels late last year:
Person #1: Anyone have an expired canned good in their pantry that they could snap a pic of for a social media post?
Person #2: I am the queen of expired cans, just a sec.
Person #3: I can beat that. Hold on.
Person #1: Ohhh… shall we have a competition?
Person #4: If I can enter half consumed condiments into the challenge, ITS ON.
Person #5: Amateurs. Do I get extra points for the rust?
Person #4: The rust is a nice touch. Guess I didn’t know who I was dealing with. This mango chutney is just waiting for the perfect recipe. I’ll give it another 3 years.
Person #3: LOL. What about just on goat cheese and crackers? Or a panini?
Person #4: NOPE. Needs another 3 years. I’m going to turn it into a probiotic.
Person #6: I see your 2018 and raise you a 2016 miso chili paste.
Everyone:
Why Laughing is So Important
This week’s episode of one of our favorite podcasts (Hidden Brain) talks about humor and how we can find more reasons to laugh even amidst difficult times, particularly given how much laughing helps us actually feel better. We hope you will check it out and keep finding ways to incorporate laughter into your day.
A Final Word About Food Dates
After that story about expired canned goods and condiments, we would be remiss not to share some additional information about food code dates. (We may have lots of “expired” items in our pantries, but we’re still nutrition educators!) Check out our Code Date Extensions PDF for reliable tips for when it is safe to use food beyond the printed date.